Buffalo Grove's deputy village manager fitting into new job

She loves juggling tasks, working closely with residents

Jenny Maltas is the new deputy village manager for the village of Buffalo Grove. (Village of Buffalo Grove, Handout)

After just two months as deputy village manager, Jenny Maltas finds herself deep in the trenches of village government and she isn't looking back.

"It's different every day, and I like that, along with fact that all of the topic areas are so different, especially working in a manager's office," said Maltas, 30, who was selected from 125 applicants and hired Jan. 21 to work with fire and police protection, human resources and information technology. "It takes a lot of ability to multi-task in order to be successful. It's a challenge but fun at the same time because you're actually helping people and working right next to your residents."

Her responsibilities include managing two deputy building commissioners, planners, support staff and two golf pros, as well as identifying and recruiting new businesses to the village. But in the short term, she is working closely with Village Manager Dane Bragg in implementing the strategic plan, evaluating all services and identifying which are core or extra but related to the core mission. That information will be presented to the Village Board this summer during the budget process.

"Jenny has been a welcome addition to our management team," Bragg said. "Her prior experience, coupled with her excellent professional skills, truly benefits the village in tackling the complex problems facing local government today."

Maltas, who grew up in Arlington Heights, attended District 25 schools and graduated from Hersey High School and Bradley University in Peoria. She remembers developing her work ethic early in life at her family's former business in Wheeling — O'Ryan Medical Products. After helping her parents close the business, Maltas was hired as an intern by the village of Schaumburg and then went on to receive a master's in public administration from Northern Illinois University. She returned to Schaumburg as a management analyst for three years before being named assistant to the manager for the village of Deerfield in 2010.

"Now, I'm in the middle of a Schaumburg and a Deerfield, which is a pretty good background to come to the position," said Maltas, who will receive $108,000 annually. "It's the next natural step in my career. It's good to work with different municipalities, gives you different perspective. You see different efficiencies and you're coming in fresh."

With her office right next to Bragg's, she said they work collaboratively. Most recently, she's been handling day-to-day operations and working with the developers of Cambridge Commons so he can focus on big-picture goals for the village.

In her spare time, Maltas, who is single and lives on the North Side of Chicago, likes traveling — she went to Ireland with her two younger brothers — and working with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. She lost her mother in June 2011 to breast cancer, and her mother's parents also died of cancer.

"It's a big thing that's impacted our family quite a bit, so we've taken it on," said Maltas, whose family has raised $140,000 for the American Cancer Society over nine years. She is the event chair for the Relay for Life in Highland Park/Deerfield this year, in addition to doing another Relay for Life with her family. "That's my main, real passion."